@chines1 posted:Yes we did about a dozen cars with this suspension and it was more for the purpose of the specific engine fitment and less for the suspension (they used an inline 4 VW flex fuel motor at first and later an Audi TT motor) mated to a VW/Audi 5 speed box. Several were later converted to Subaru, upon request.
It had its pros and cons, but in the end it just didn't handle as well as a properly set up swingaxle (not many do) and the trend was going way more Subaru than anything else, so it made sense to do them with the stock chassis and VW transaxle beefed up a ton.
Handling: in a straight line it was very civil and felt great. Mildly aggressive driving it also did great, but when you really pushed it it just wasn't as good and had a violent "snap" point where there was no coming back from it... hold on and try not to get dizzy. :-)
Carey what's your analysis of why the deDion behaves so unforgivingly in the Spyder?
I have a theory, which is that the swing axle's camber changes, particularly when combined with old school tire with round shoulders, cause the car to lose grip more gradually, and at a rate the driver can feel, which makes it more controllable (albeit probably slower) at the edge of its limits. The dD, in holding the wheels more perpendicular, probably handles "better" but eliminates the telegraphing feature of the swinger. Possible?